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Trump again threatens Iran's infrastructure ahead of his latest Strait of Hormuz deadline

April 05, 2026
Trump again threatens Iran's infrastructure ahead of his latest Strait of Hormuz deadline

President Donald Trump has threatened major strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure and bridges ahead of his latest deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz.

NBC Universal

He used an expletive, referenced Islam, and described Iran's leadership as "crazy bastards" in a Truth Social post Sunday, repeating past threats if Iran misses the deadline.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump threatened a major bombing campaign on Tuesday.

Trump has previously threatened to bomb Iran's energy infrastructure before delaying action, citing what he says are ongoing negotiations. On March 21, Trump said Iran had a 48-hour deadline to open the strait "without threat," or the U.S. would "hit and obliterate" its power plants.

He then extended an initial five-day deadline to April 6, before warning Iran on Saturday that it had 48 hours to make a deal or "all Hell will reign down upon them."

An attack on civilian infrastructure can be considered a war crime under international law.

Responding to Trump's post on NBC News' "Meet the Press," Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said rhetoric from the administration had been "embarrassing and juvenile."

He told moderator Kristen Welker: "People see this president as having blundered into a war with no clear rationale, and there's no amount of cursing or boasting or tough talk that will cover up for the fact that this president didn't have a rationale and he doesn't really have a plan."

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Iran has effectively shut down theStrait of Hormuz,a trade route through which 20% of the world's oil passes, by striking ships in response to U.S.-Israeli attacks.

Rising energy, shipping and fertilizercosts fueled by Tehran's stranglehold on the Strait are already being felt in the United States and across the world, with sharper consequences expected to fall on poorer, import-dependent countries.

While Iran has denied holding direct or indirect negotiations with the U.S. and has rejected calls for a ceasefire, the two sides have acknowledged exchanging messages through intermediaries. It is unclear whether anything has resulted from the discussions, with thousands more U.S. troops arriving in the Middle East last week as the war continues to escalate.

Trump has repeatedly signaled he is looking to draw the conflict to an end within weeks, and has made conflicting statements about whether he could end the war without reopening the Strait, which he has said the U.S. "doesn't need."

In an address on Wednesday, he said that "the countries of the world that do receive oil" through the Strait should "grab it and cherish it."

Iran has insisted the strait remains open to vessels from friendly countries, with a reduced number of ships having safely made the passage during the conflict. In March, Iranian media reports ‌quoted Iran's representative to the U.N. maritime agency as saying vessels except those linked to "Iran's enemies" would be allowed through.

Shipping industry experts say some ships are being charged millions of dollars to transit,with some oil tankers forced to take a new routein the Strait of Hormuz through a narrow passage controlled by its Revolutionary Guard, according to maritime data shared with NBC News.

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More than half way to the moon, the Artemis II astronauts grappled with a toilet problem

April 05, 2026
More than half way to the moon, the Artemis II astronauts grappled with a toilet problem

The four astronauts on theArtemis II missioncurrently hurtling through space have had a largely quiet journey so far. Very few in-flight issues have cropped up that could disrupt their peace of mind.

CNN (April 4, 2026) - NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon. - NASA

Except, that is, for the toilet.

The Artemis II crew's 16.5-foot-wide (5-meter-wide) Orion capsule experienced a waste management-related problem that arose in the early hours of Saturday as Day 3 was winding down.

"It's an issue with dumping the waste out of the toilet," Artemis II Flight Director Judd Frieling told reporters Saturday morning. "And so it appears to me that we probably have some frozen urine in the vent line."

The astronauts— NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — were still fast asleep by midmorning nearly 200,000 miles (nearly 320,000 kilometers) from Earth as mission controllers continued to troubleshoot the issue. And by Saturday afternoon, early in Day 4 of the flight, mission controllers had a plan of attack: to warm up the frozen line by rotating the capsule to put the frozen urine into the sun.

That appeared to partially unclog the pipe, allowing the capsule to expel some of the urine from the wastebasket-size tank into the vacuum of space.

Shortly after, mission control said the toilet was "go" — but "for fecal use only."

Efforts to fix the commode continued throughout Saturday, but stubborn clogs prevented a full cleanout. Until, at last, around midnight Eastern time, mission control delivered the long-awaited update: "Breaking news," mission control's capsule communicator, Jacki Mahaffey, told the crew. "You are go for all types of use of the toilet."

"And the crew rejoices!" Koch replied. "Thank you!"

Glistening space pee

The process of venting the urine outside the capsule was a moment Koch also showed on camera earlier in the mission. The pee trickles by like glowing gems in the vacuum of space as it zooms by the Orion's windows.

But the frozen vent line was not the crew's only run-in with toilet troubles.

Shortly after launching to orbit from NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, the crew realized the toilet's pump wasn't working. Pumps are important and used for a variety of reasons, including assisting with pulling waste from the body. In space, there is no gravity to assist with such expulsions.

That problem had a relatively straightforward fix: The crewmembers simply hadn't put in enough water to prime the pump. After they topped that off, the system began functioning as intended.

The astronauts celebrated that small victory on Thursday during a virtual interview with news media.

"I'm proud to call myself the space plumber," Koch said. "We were all breathing a sigh of relief when it turned out to be just fine. We did originally think that there could have been potentially something fouling up the motor."

The Artemis II astronauts’ toilet separates urine for release into space and stores feces for disposal after their return to Earth. The crew trained on how to use the system using this mock-up at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. - Canadian Space Agency)

'The most important piece of equipment'

The onboard toilet is perhaps the spaceflight amenity held most dear to astronauts who value creature comforts.

"I like to say that it is probably the most important piece of equipment on board," Koch added during her Thursday dispatch from Orion.

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With the Orion toilet malfunctioning, the astronauts had to resort to a technique employed by the deep-space explorers of the mid-20th century.

In the Apollo era, astronauts did not have a toilet. They relied solely on bags to relieve themselves.

And the process was not always error-free. During the 1969 Apollo 10 mission — the one in which Thomas Stafford, John Young and Eugene Cernan circumnavigated the moon — Stafford reported back to mission control on Day 6 of the mission that a piece of waste was floating through the cabin, according toonce-confidential government documents.

"Give me a napkin, quick," Stafford wasrecordedsaying a few minutes before Cernan spots more: "Here's another goddamn turd."

The astronauts famously hated the bagged-poop approach.

"The fecal bag system was marginally functional and was described as very 'distasteful' by the crew," anofficial NASA reportfrom 2007 later revealed. "The bags provided no odor control in the small capsule and the odor was prominent."

The Orion crew had to rely on a similar system for liquid waste while they worked to fix their toilet woes. Referred to as the the Collapsable Contingency Urinal or CCU, astronaut Don Pettit, following along with the mission from home, shared an image on his social media feed.

Orion's legacy

The Apollo 10 capsule wasn't the only one plagued with toilet issues. The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which notched its first astronaut mission in 2020 and has flown more than a dozen since, also had several hiccups with its hygiene system.

During a Crew Dragon flight in 2021, for example, SpaceX found that a tube used to funnel urine into a storage tank became unglued, causing a leaky mess beneath the capsule's floor. That forced the astronauts to rely on backup undergarments — which are essentially adult diapers.

The current NASA administrator, billionaire tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, also commissioned a three-day flight aboard Crew Dragon in 2022, called Inspiration4. During the spaceflight, he had to troubleshoot an onboard toilet problem. The issue, however, did not involve wayward waste floating around the cabin, Isaacman told CNN at the time.

Decades of toilet development informed the system aboard Orion that the Artemis II astronauts are using. NASA put a similar system on board the International Space Station — which orbits just a couple hundred miles above Earth — to help vet the technology.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch reads on a tablet in the Orion crew capsule on Friday while astronaut Jeremy Hansen (center right) looks out of one of Orion’s windows. - NASA

Collins Aerospace holds a roughly $30 million contract,inked in 2015, to design and adapt the technology, known as the Universal Waste Management System or UWMS, for Orion.

And the system also builds on decades of the Space Shuttle program's toilet technology. On both systems, urine is vented outside the capsule while solid waste is compacted and returned home with the crew.

When it functions, the in-space toilet can have its advantages.

"One of my friends has even said he prefers the toilet in space to the one on Earth," former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino told CNN.

Massimino isn't so sure, however. "I really miss my toilet on Earth because it's very involved in space, and you have to be careful and respect your friends so that you don't leave a mess," he said. "And always clean up after yourself because you don't want people to get sick."

NASA's Artemis program is sending humans into deep space for the first time in more than five decades. Sign up forCountdown newsletterand get updates from CNN Science on out-of-this-world expeditions as they unfold.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

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Ousted Army chief of staff says soldiers deserve "courageous leaders" in email

April 05, 2026
Ousted Army chief of staff says soldiers deserve

Ousted Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Randy George, told Pentagon officials in anoutgoing emailthat U.S. soldiers deserve "courageous leaders of character," after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked him to step down and take immediate retirement.

CBS News

CBS News exclusivelyreported earlier this weekon the general's ousting, with one source saying Hegseth wants someone in the role who will implement his and President Trump's vision for the Army.

An outgoing email, attributed to George and confirmed as authentic by CBS News on Saturday, circulated online after his ousting. A U.S. official told CBS News that George sent the email to Driscoll, the undersecretary and assistant secretary of the Army, as well as to the three- and four-star generals and officers on his staff.

"It has been the greatest privilege to serve beside you and lead Soldiers in support of our country," he wrote. "I know you'll all continue to stay laser-focused on the mission, continue innovating, and relentlessly cut through the bureaucracy to get our warfighters what they need to win on the modern battlefield."

He added: "Our soldiers are truly the best in the world – they deserve tough training and courageous leaders of character. I have no doubt you will all continue to lead with courage, character, and grit."

George previously served as the senior military assistant to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin from 2021 to 2022, during the Biden administration. He became Army chief of staff, typically a four-year post, in 2023.

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Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnellsaidin a statement that George "will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately. The Department of War is grateful for General George's decades of service to our nation. We wish him well in his retirement."

The current vice chief of staff of the Army, Gen. Christopher LaNeve, who was formerly Hegseth's military aide, will be acting Army chief of staff.

Hegseth has fired more than a dozen senior military officers, includingChairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife and the head of theDefense Intelligence Agency Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse.

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“Diff'rent Strokes” star Todd Bridges files for divorce from wife after 3 years of marriage

April 05, 2026

Todd Bridges filed for divorce from photographer and designer Bettijo B. Hirschi.

Entertainment Weekly Todd Bridges and his wife, Bettijo B. HirschiCredit: Christopher Willard/ABC via Getty

Key points

  • The Diff'rent Strokes actor married Hirschi in September 2022.

  • "I have a lot of respect for what we shared and will always value that," Bridges told PEOPLE.

Todd Bridgesis ending his marriage.

TheDiff'rent Strokesstar filed for divorce from his wife, photographer and designer Bettijo B. Hirschi, after three years of marriage, per court records reviewed byEntertainment Weekly.

Bridges filed a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage (Divorce) Without Minor Children on Tuesday, according to Maricopa County Superior Court records in Arizona.

EW has reached out to representatives for Bridges and Hirschi for comment.

Todd Bridges in 2023Credit: Erika Goldring/Getty

"As I shared some time ago, we made the decision to separate, and that hasn't been easy for either of us," Bridgestold PEOPLEin a statement. "I've now officially filed for divorce. It's a deeply personal decision, but one I feel is necessary so we can both truly move forward."

Bridges continued, "I have a lot of respect for what we shared and will always value that. I sincerely wish her nothing but the best. I appreciate everyone's understanding and continued privacy as we close this chapter of our lives."

The actor previously announced the couple's separation in January. "After much prayer and reflection, my spouse and I have made the difficult decision to separate," Bridgestold PEOPLEat the time. "This was not an easy choice, and it comes with a heavy heart, but also with love and gratitude for the life we shared."

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Bridges added, "I thank God for the time we've had together, the lessons we've learned, and the family we've built. Even in this season of change, I trust He is guiding us both toward healing, peace, and new beginnings."

Hirschi revealed in 2024 that the couple met in 2022 through a mutual friend who was trying to get her to use a dating app and wanted Bridges to weigh in on Hirschi's profile.

"Unbeknownst to me, she had decided to make me a profile on some other app, and I think Todd might have been the only single guy she knew," HirschiexplainedonTamron Hall. "She was using him as market research. She was sending him pictures of me and saying, 'Do we need to do something different with her hair? What should we do?'"

Hirschi added that her friend was responsible for the initial correspondence between her and Bridges. "She texted me and said, 'You need to message my friend. He wants to hear from you. Here's his number,'" she recalled. "And she wrote the text, too. I just copied and pasted."

Todd Bridges in 'Diff'rent Strokes'Credit: Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with ourEW Dispatch newsletter.

Bridges proposed six months after they met, and they married in September 2022. The actor, who has two children, and Hirschi, who has four children, blended their families and started a podcast together titledDang.

TheEverybody Hates Chrisactor was previously married to Dori Smith from 1998 to 2012. Hirschi was also previously married, noting that she had been "divorced for a while" during her appearance onTamron Hall.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

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Taylor Frankie Paul Vacations with Older Kids amid Domestic Violence Investigations

April 05, 2026
Taylor Frankie Paul Vacations with Older Kids amid Domestic Violence Investigations

Taylor Frankie Paul is vacationing with her two older children amid a police investigation into an alleged domestic violence incident involving her ex-boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen

People Taylor Frankie Paul; Taylor Frankie Paul with family membersCredit: John Shearer/WireImage;taylorfrankiepaul/Instagram

NEED TO KNOW

  • The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, 31, shared on Instagram that she and her two eldest children, daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5, were vacationing with family in Moab, Utah

  • Taylor's trip comes just a few weeks after ABC canceled her already-filmed season of The Bachelorette after TMZ published a 2023 video showing the reality star throwing chairs at Mortensen in front of her daughter

Taylor Frankie Paulis spending time away from home with her older children amid a police investigation into analleged domestic violence incidentinvolving her ex-boyfriendDakota Mortensen.

On Friday, April 3, theSecret Lives of Mormon Wivesstar, 31, shared a post on her Instagram Stories that showed herself and her two eldest children, daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5, sitting on a couch with a group of relatives.

Taylor wrote in a separate post that the group was staying at a boutique hotel in Moab, Utah, and yet another photo showed that the group had gone on an off-road vehicle tour.

In a repost of Taylor's Stories photo, her mom, Liann May, wrote: "Family time is my favorite time."

Taylor sharesIndy and Oceanwith her ex-husband, Tate Paul. She is also mom to son Ever, 2, with ex Mortensen, 33.

Taylor Frankie Paul with family membersCredit: taylorfrankiepaul/Instagram

Taylor's trip comes just a few weeks after ABC canceled her already-filmed season ofThe BacheloretteafterTMZpublished a 2023 video showing the reality TV starthrowing chairsat Mortensen in front of her daughter.

Taylor wasarrestedin 2023 for alleged domestic violence, but the case came under new scrutiny after the publication of the video, which showed her yelling, putting Mortensen in a headlock and throwing chairs at him while a child could be heard crying.

PEOPLE previously reported that Mortensen has beengranted temporary custodyof son Ever. Per the terms of theprotective order, which Mortensen filed against Taylor on March 19, Mortensen will have "temporary custody" of the 2-year-old.

A rep for Taylor previously told PEOPLE the 2023 video "conveniently omits context" and called its release a "reprehensible attempt [by Mortensen] to distract from his own behavior." Mortensenrespondedin a statement to PEOPLE, writing, "I am, unfortunately, used to these baseless claims about me and our relationship, which I categorically deny."

For the 2023 incident, Taylor pleaded guilty in abeyance to aggravated assault, and the other charges were dropped.

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In February, two Utah police departments opened independent domestic violence investigations involving Taylor and Mortensen.

On March 16, the Draper City Police Department confirmed to PEOPLE that there was anongoing "domestic assault investigation"involving Taylor and Mortensen. A spokesperson for the Utah police department said that "allegations have been made in both directions" and "contact was made with involved parties on [Feb.] 24 and 25."

The West Jordan Police Departmentalso opened an "active domestic violence case"involving Taylor and Mortensen in February after Mortensen contacted the Utah police agency, a spokesperson for the department told PEOPLE on March 25. The spokesperson added that Mortensen had spoken to police in March for the investigation and had submitted a video, which police believe is dated to "early-to-mid 2024."

Dakota Mortenson and Taylor Frankie Paul on 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Reunion Special.'Credit: Disney/Fred Hayes

In the wake of the investigations, multiple sources confirmed to PEOPLE in March that filming for the fifth season ofMormon Wiveshad halted aftermultiple cast members refusedto film with Taylor.

"They all banded together and they don't want to come back right now," said a source close to production. "They were just getting tired of Taylor, honestly." Added a source close to the cast: "None of the women want to be associated with her."

Taylor has mostly kept out of the public eye since theBachelorettewas canceled, but on March 27, the MomTok membershared a pair of postson her Instagram Stories thanking her followers for their support. The posts were deleted just hours later.

"Thank you to every check in, call, prayer sent," she captioned a photo of a sunny landscape. "Your unconditional kindness and check in can be someone's lifeline."

The second post showed an open notebook sitting on a table beside a bouquet of flowers and included the text: "Ending every single night with gratitude even if it's just ONE glimmer."

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

Read the original article onPeople

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